London Irish may have all but secured Aviva Premiership safety but director of
rugby Brian Smith labelled the performance in their 33-33 draw with Sale as "embarrassing".

Irish led 14-3 thanks to tries from Guy Armitage and Halani Aulika inside 10 minutes, and also held a three-point advantage during the dying seconds after Max Lahiff's try had helped them battle back from a poor start to the second half.

But Sale fly-half Nick Macleod held his nerve to slot a last-gasp penalty to earn the Sharks a share of the spoils.

The draw moves the Exiles 12 points clear of bottom club London Welsh with just three games remaining, but Smith was unimpressed after seeing his side squander a winning position.

He said: "We got such a handy lead to begin with and then we sat back and admired our good work.

"We showed good fighting qualities to come back from that but it is embarrassing to score two tries and go to sleep.